San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-01-17


actual capital, ana FOR MAKING my mar
riage with Lucy an immediate possi-
bility.
"Sell livery blessed stickl Sweep out
the whole bag o. tricks! Pawn the coat
aft yer back An crack the bilin' on to
the Makeshift COltln was Jimmy's adj
vice.
found on inquiry that | had, curl
ously enough. drawn 1.-The field" in big
sweepstakes ut the Brush and Palette.
As the Makeshift Colt was name I'M
known to the lists, il had not been put
among those drawn, and consequently
it belonged to me as holder of the field"
ticket.
That's yours, thin, anyway" said
Jimmy, referring to the sweep. / ac-
cepted this drawing, for my own part,
as an omen of success. | was thorough
ly in with Jimmy now.
i had little enough money: but |
quickly sold or pawned every available
article that | owned, even going
so far as to raise money upon few bits
of furniture and studio effects that |
had. l made up a purse of about 40
sovereigns, which really represented
every stick or rag in my possession, eX-
cept what stood upright in.
Then my Irish monitor and myself
proceeded to visit certain book-makers.
A remark that the first ofthem made to
us was substantially repeated by the
rest.
Never heard of Your fancy till this
morning. Gave hundred against him
to one or two parties that came to get
on him. Had TO look up the guide"
TO see if there was such a horse at all.
But can't give quite the long price
again. Make it eighties TO one for you"
| put on ESQ at these odds, and also
"placed" the colt at fifteen to one, put
ting on CT in that way. Jimmy was en-
raptured; for if the colt carried off the
event l should win e2,5OO-a mint of
money in our eyes. He himself had put
on all he could raise-hOw much exactly
| do not know.
Its fOine TIM we'll be havin' pres
entity" he said. Wont the boys open
their eyes whin you an me shows our
pile? An see fwhat a base of opera
tons we'll havel BE the mother av
Moses, we'll be millionaires yit! Good
luck to the coult!"
confess l had my misgivings, al
though the gambling fever had come
over me and impelled me to risk my lit
tie all upon this horse. To me it was a
grand coup indeed. 1t meant so much,
you see; for either should come out an
actual capitalist, pOssessor of sum
that to me seemed almost boundless
wealth-''a base of operations, as jim
my called it-Or | should be completely
and utterly broken.
You may imagine the state of mind 1
was mat one moment seeing q simply
golden prospect before me, anon seized
with the dismalest doubts and fears.
And the following day my excitement
grew hotter yet, for in all the papers the
Makeshift Colt was now, for the first
time, quoted in the betting, and appar-
emily he had come into favor, as the
price against him had fallen to forties
to one. Still more rrassuring was the
fact that two sporting papers gave the
Makeshift Colt as one of their three
probable winners. The secret was
secret no longer. q.
l now got into wild deliriOuS ecStacy
of expectation. You can well imagine
how felt. | went so far as to telegraph
to that relative of mine, alleging that l
was in want and had sore need Of his
help, also borrowed some E5 here and
there, and Cracked it on" with the
rest.
My relative evidently smelled a rat,
however. He was a man of the world,
as the phrase goes. and had low opin-
ion of me, which | am now open to con-
fess was not wholly unwarranted. He
wired in reply:
believe you want to bet on Derby.
Will send Gl0, but not until Saturday
morning, when expect it."
However, on showing his telegram to
the landlord of the Brush and Palette,
that worthy publican readily advanced
me the el0. / thus sold" my kind rela-
tive, you will observe, through the in
strumentality of the general guide, phil
osopher, and friend of good Bohemians.
At last came the eventful morning,
and Jimmy and found ourselves in
from our pub" down to EPSON. |
of my Gl0, getting forty to one, and
eight to one for shop" A long price
still; but the colt had not come into
general favor much, and, indeed, actual
ly started at little below those odds.
All! l don't think l shall ever forget
that day. No, sir! The fearful agitation
/ was in has impressed every detail of
it indelibly on my memory. Consider.
l stood to win $1,000, which meant to
me wife, home, substance, comfort,
responsibility, business. On the 9th
er hand, black abyss of woe seemed
to open to my imagination.
We stood on the hill opposite the
grand-stand and watched the prepare
tons for the race. Jimmy the bolster
Gus had suddenly quoted down into q
grim, white-faced, eager-eyed, silent
spectator. was so agitated that had
to lie on the turf. My head swan round,
and my heart palpitated forcibly. /
shook all over as if had a palsy.
Among the mass of horses marshaling
into rank for the start we had eyes but
for one. Among the many hues of their
jockeys silks We sought out the cOlOrs
that signified our particular choice.
Purple and black-there they were; and.
we ga2ed at them feverishly, for the
noble animal that bore them carried all
our hopes and fears.
They are off The race has begun, and
the decision of my fate is at hand. 1
see. the brilliant bed of cOlOrS stream
past and away. hear the intense muir
muir of the crowd, and l stand, as
gambler stands, awaiting the cast Of
the die.
Oh, my God! how it all comes back to
me, though ten eventful years have
passed since that day. Surely, such a
terrible agitation of mind as shook me
then is madness-madness neither more
nor less.
The field comes sweeping round 1.-The
corner" tailed of into extended line;
and down the hill toward home come
the horses, in one last tremendous effort.
A jockey, whose colors are scarlet and
yellow, bright and vivid, leads the way,